This invention relates to an apparatus and method for mixing of particulate materials which is particularly but not exclusively designed for use in applying an inoculating material onto seeds.
The application of an inoculating materials onto seeds prior to planting is becoming more widespread. At the present time little or no commercial equipment is available for the necessary mixing process and this is often therefore done by hand. The process firstly requires that an adhesive or sticking agent is applied to the seeds and thoroughly mixed with the seeds so that each seed has a layer of the sticking agent at least partly covering the seed. Subsequently it is necessary to apply the particulate inoculate material generally in powder form which then attaches to the adhesive agent on the seeds to ensure that the seed carries a sufficient quantity of the inoculate material. This mixing is of course very difficult by hand in the quantities required and requires vigorous physical effort and also presents the worker with a problem of being accessable to the various chemical materials which is highly undesirable.
One example of a device for coating seeds is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,017 (Simmons) which comprises a free standing machine having a first chamber for injecting the liquid adhesive agent and a second chamber into which the material falls from the first chamber for mixing the powder or particulate coating material. This device has achieved little success and is relatively expensive as it is a free standing unit. Furthermore it requires separate handling of the seeds so that they are fed into the machine at one end and then removed from the discharge at the other end.